DaAd
Drafted into the defense of Equestria, the Crusaders volunteer to embark a series of dangerous operations behind enemy lines to cripple one of their chief technological advantages, a magical construct that Twilight refers to as the "radio." ·NCMares

CrAd
No pony could have seen that storm coming, and by the time they did it was already too late. No friends, no rescue, stranded on some uncharted island far from civilization, Fluttershy has no options left but to save herself. ·LightningDust

TrSaDa
To date, two facts are well-known: Celestia banished Nightmare Moon to the Moon for 1000 years; and Luna was trapped inside of Nightmare Moon, fully aware of the monster she'd become and completely helpless to do anything about it. ·Somber Star

DaCo
Everypony has a breaking point. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon have finally snapped the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They fight back and along the way turn the Cutie Mark Crusaders into the most feared mob in Equestria's history. ·Firefly2012

SaAdAl
Granny Smith's dead, Scootaloo's no longer a crusader, and Silver Spoon really hates Applebloom and Diamond Tiara for making friends with them. The question being, with Silver looming, will the new friends stick together, or will they break ·QuanarX

RaAl
It's amazing how quickly things can change. One minute, Diamond Tiara feels on top of the world. And the next day, she and Silver Spoon have been turned into foals for all to see. ·Shadowmane PX-41

RoCoSlHu
Some time has past since that night with Lyra. You've made some friends, you've found a job, and you're starting to settle into your new home. This is a slice of your life in Equestria. ·TonicPlotter

It was a night that will forever be burned into the memories of everypony. One fateful night in Equestria everything changed. The princesses who had ruled over the world with kindness and heart were gone, and a new ruler had taken their place.

Years have passed since that event. Ponies have grown up, aged, and moved on with their lives. Equestria has become a very different place over the span of these years.

Our story begins when a face resurfaces in Equestria. When a weathered, scarred, but familiar face steps into the light.

This is the fanfic based on Astringe's Bad Future series on DeviantART. He did some great designs of the characters, so make sure you give that gallery a peruse before you read the fic.

Also worth mentioning, he's been nice enough to plop any pics he does based on chapters I've written into this separate gallery, so there will be less spoilers for readers just jumping in to the story.

NOTE: The canon of my story picks up at the start of Season 3, where it begins to diverge away from the canon of the show. I've never read the IDW comics nor have I seen Equestria Girls, so the events of my story aren't canon at all with them.

Nah, Sweetie Belle's already been revealed as having her own role elsewhere, heading the Diamond Dogs. Personally, I think it's quite improbable that the Masquerader is Pinkie, but I don't have any better guesses at the moment. Cadance is plausible. Fleur de Lis is possible, but quite unlikely.

This dark wanderer is either Cadance or Chrysalis. I'm guessing the former, but that does not rule out the latter. However, we have no reason to believe that every time they show up they are the same pony. I am thinking it is a 'group' of ponies trying to right the world, but they all appear as a 'mare shrouded in mystery'.

From what I can gather it seems twighlight took over and did something that messed everything up.

First of all the crown described sounds like a more fancy version of twighlights crown from equestria girls. Second the pony that attacked Scootaloo Dash and Flutters said "Sparkle wants the yellow one too"

It's also been mentioned that she was "queen of equestria". No other ruler has been queen, only princess.

I have a theory, based on art from Deviantart made specially for this story, that this cloaked something is actually a bodily combination of princesses including/excluding Crysalis. Like an equinian LEGO toy of some sorts. And this crown is needed for their (maybe?) disconnection, so to say. This thing still posess some kind of alicorn powers, like silent teleportation or earth pony muscle power, but, I suppose, nothing even close to match Twilight. And It actually want to become Them again. That's imho, anyway.

Story is very good so far. Will be waiting for further development of plot

Hmm, so Apple Bloom knows nothing, now I wonder what the past held for Scootaloo? A touching and powerful chapter, as always. I always like how the world just seems to come alive with the way you write it. But instead of the happy and vibrant life we see from pony stories, this is a weight that presses down on the reader. We start the chapter with hope, the two friends are together, but we are slowly being pushed down by the memories of what lead them to this place. It is a heavy story, and you are doing the art work justice.

Lovely chapter. I should have read this earlier. I did notice one error, however. In the first paragraph, 'dying' should be 'dyeing', unless you meant that the landscape was being murdered by the sun, which I somehow doubt.